Getting the Reference

Giuseppe Cacace/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesGucci Men’s Fall 2012 in Milan.

Jacopo Raule/Getty ImagesA look from Gucci Men’s Fall 2012 collection.

The reference machine is always working overtime in Milan. Leonardo DiCaprio as Arthur Rimbaud in love/hate with Paul Verlaine as interpreted by Leonardo DiCaprio in Agnieszka Holland’s 1995 film “Total Eclipse.” That’s what the designer Frida Giannini was thinking about when she began putting together her latest collection, she said backstage at Gucci on Monday.

Milan Men’s Fashion

Reports from the men’s shows in Milan.

“The Decadent poets of the 19th century were on my mind, but with more of a grunge attitude Nike Air Max 2010 Womens, worn out clothes and a lot of layers and different proportions,’’ Ms. Giannini said.

It was a strong collection, notable for varied proportions — dropped-crotch trousers tight at the calf, upholstery-scale overcoats, snug jackets with bum-cooler skirting, modified equestrian field boots — and masterfully combined textures.

But it would have been cooler had the designer added another layer of reference — a truly grungy cheap coach purses, Dennis Cooper element — by remembering that it was River Phoenix who was originally supposed to play Rimbaud soccer jerseys, a plan that fell apart when Mr. Phoenix collapsed and died of drug-induced heart failure outside the Viper Room in Los Angeles in 1993. That would have goosed the collection along with some truly tragic romance.